#(nobody lets hunter have the win)

[saturn-sends-hugs]

OK YAY 🥰 @the-bi-space-ace @gentle-hero-blog

SO we all know the thing about echo like attaching a whisk to his scomp or something and just messing around with his prosthetics but!! i think the Chaotic Domino energy is just too strong with him and we’ve been neglecting so many opportunities for him to be silly with his prosthetics, for example:

Someone (Wrecker) is snoring super loud so Echo just chucks his legs at him

Echo gets fed up with his brothers being annoying so he adjusts his neural brace until he can’t hear them (he is so old man™️)

Crosshair says something bitchy? Echo pulls his leg off to smack him with it. Tech not going to bed? Get leg smacked! Hunter trying to get him to stop smacking people? Too bad!! You should duck!!!!! (he is so younger brother™️)

Messing with Omega and twisting his scomp 180 degrees backwards like OMG YOU BROKE IT

Getting bored and just swinging his scomp arm all the way back and forth like a pendulum

Echo in the mess hall “accidentally” getting stabbed in the leg and screaming GUYS MY LEG just to freak people out

And my personal favorite(s)

Him not bothering to put his prosthetics on some days and just walking around on his stumps, which leads to a) a bunch of double takes where the batch hear his voice and then have to look down at where he actually is now, b) him using this to his advantage and scuttling around to scare people like ECHO WHAT THE FUCK— and c) getting called a gremlin, space crab, or otherwise small impish creature and cackling every time they come up with a new name to call him (crosshair jumps out of his skin every single time echo scuttles by and the names are NOT stopping him)

[moosesarecute]

The shadows sing

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

It was so dark, you couldn’t see anything. You stopped in the middle of the woods, but you had no idea what woods these were.

You could feel them coming closer, could hear their wings flapping.

The remaining parts of your wings were dragging against the ground as you tried to run.

“Please, make them go away,” you whispered a prayer. To whom, you didn’t know, but you just needed them to leave.

You heard them coming closer and closer and you tried to run faster. But it didn’t work. You were exhausted and hurt. After being on the run for the last three days, where you have been hunted the last 5 hours, you couldn’t move faster.

“We’ve got you now,” you heard the voice of one of your hunters, Adrian. “You can’t get away.”

“Please, make them go away,” you repeated a little louder this time. You got no response.

You felt Adrian’s arms grab your wings, and soon he had picked you up from the ground. You let out a scream at the harsh treatment.

“If you’re so attached to your wings, why don’t you use them?” Adrian taunted you. He knew your wings didn’t work, he was responsible for the damage.

You were now about five meters above the forest floor and he let you go.

Instinctively, you tried to flap your wings, but the pain ripped through your body as you hit the ground.

You woke and had to fight to catch your breath. Even though you were used to reliving the worst day of your life, it still didn’t get any less scary.

“Late, Master Raven waits,” your shadows whispered to you.

“Shit,” you said and jumped out of bed.

You dragged on the clothes that were the closest to you. As you hurriedly strapped your knife onto your leg, your shadows surrounded you.

“Cold outside,” your shadows argued.

“I really don’t have time for this,” you told them with a sigh.

They didn’t listen and soon you wore a scarf, a hat and also your old winter cloak. It was full of holes, but it still kept you somewhat warm.

You sprinted out the front door of your small cabin, the snow under your feet was crunching and as soon as your shadows told you the coast was clear, you shadow walked.

You were careful to stop a safe distance away from the meeting place, so that nobody would see you. Your shadows protested as you hid them and ran towards the meeting.

You felt Master Raven’s disappointed stare long before you actually saw his eyes.

You stopped at the end of the line, all 19 of your “colleagues” in front of you. You tried to hide, but failed miserably.

“You’re late,” Master Raven said with his dark intimidating voice. He walked towards you with The Raven, your team’s actual master, placed at his usual place, Master Raven’s shoulder. “I didn’t get you a functional foot, just so that you could show up late.”

You looked down on your left leg. From the middle of your calf and down you had a metal prothesis. It was a little rusty, but you had a functional leg and ankle, so you were grateful. You would have been dead decades ago without it.

You quickly moved your cloak so that it hid your leg.

“I’m sorry, Master Raven,” you said, your head still looking down. “It won’t happen agai-”

“The Raven and I have decided on a fitting punishment for your laziness,” Master Raven interrupted you. “You’ll fight the twins, if you win you’ll get the 20/80 agreement the next month, however, if you lose, you’ll get 10/90, understood?”

You looked over at the twins, or Sole and Sherry which was their names. You saw their smug smiles and sparkling eyes. You swallowed. They wouldn’t give you an easy win.

You had always been smaller than the rest of the people in the team, so it didn’t really help that the twins were the two tallest ones. They originated from Day, but they looked scarier than most people from Day.

“Understood?” Master Raven repeated and stepped closer to you.

“Yes, understood,” you replied.

This is going to be a long month.

You stumbled back into your cabin hours later.

You yielded after an hour long battle. Your nose was bleeding and so was your forehead. Your ribs hurt and you limped a little more than usual on your prothetic leg.

Your shadows got loose as soon as you closed the door. They swirled around you in such a manner that almost made you fall over.

“Careful,” you hissed at them.

“You aren’t careful, we aren’t careful,” they answered. They were annoyed at you for getting hurt again. They wanted to protect you, but you never let them.

They pulled you towards the kitchen table and sat you down.

You always left a few shadows at home when you left. You wanted them to protect your cabin, but today had obviously been a calm day, since they had made you food.

It was a simple bowl of oats and water with some different kinds of seeds. It was your usual breakfast.

“Thanks,” you told them and started eating.

You waited a few hours before you picked up the paper from Master Raven. Your wounds from earlier had mostly healed, so you were ready to go get beat up once more.

Master Raven got customers that paid him to kill different kinds of animals.

Sometimes it was to get a specific type of animal, because the customers were throwing a big party and wanted a feast.

Other times, the customers had been hurt or something they owned got damaged by the animals and they therefore wanted them dead.

“Two nagas escaped after destroying a garden in Day,” you read out loud so that your shadows also would know what you’d be doing this week.

“No more nagas,” the shadows almost yelled at you.

“It would get me the most money,” you argued. “300 each. I’ll only get 10% this month. I either have to work around the clock to take all of the small ones or spend longer time to get one of the bigger ones.”

“Too dangerous,” they answered. “Remember last time!”

You thought back to one of your first tries at killing from Master Raven’s list. You had gone big, trying to prove yourself worthy of the team’s time and training.

You ended with a missing piece of your leg.

“I don’t really have a choice,” you replied with a sigh. “We never know when we’ll get some as good paying customers.”

You walked out of your cabin and deeper into the forest.

“Clear,” your shadows whispered.

You shadow-walked to the nagas favorite spot, not far from the river.

However, both you and your shadows failed to notice the Illyrian that sat in the trees, hiding in his own shadows.

[retiredteabag]

An uninformed narrative

Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

Synopsis: You had lived in Stardew Valley for a year before you met the hunter from the adventures guild, Sukuna Itadori. It did not take long for him to catch your attention but you couldn't help feeling as if his affection resided anywhere but you.

Pairing: Sukuna x reader

This is a Sukuna stardew valley au, heavily inspired by @tearzintheclub's similar series with butcher!sukuna, I highly recommend reading their work, they are super kind and were a big motivation for me to make this!

���・♡・〰〰・♡・〰〰・♡・〰〰・♡・〰〰・♡・〰

Damn it...damn it...damn-

After all the work you had put into your farm, into your skill set, into your friendships, the Dunning-Kruger effect had bitten you where it hurt. And you couldn't help but feel it was all your fault.

The pit in your stomach was sinking. How could you have let this happen? You had been so careful, you had even worn the armor you recently acquired from the guild. Was all this effort for nothing?

There were many thoughts swirling in your head as you frantically attempted to fend off the ghosts attacking you. You were encircled. Yes, the number was weening but so was your health, you knew you didn't have long. And the strongest feeling brewing in your heart was the shame that you had overestimating yourself.

The sword in your hand shook and your knees throbbed as you fell to the stone floor deep within the mines. Your vision was fading and even as you knew there was nothing left for you to win, you swung at the ghost coming your way, missing in your haste, and slump to the ground. Unmoving.

At least nobody would find you here...see you like this.....

-- several hours prior --

Life continued on as usual after joining the adventurers guild. The Stardew Valley Fair had just passed and after collecting your most prized items, you had won. Your heart had been full that night, not for your accomplishments, but for how loved you felt after a day of festivities with your friends.

You had sat and eaten with Penny and Leah, discussing life in the valley. You and Leah both had come to the Valley after living the city life but Penny had been born in Stardew, and that evening she had confessed her hope to one day travel away from town. The three of you decided that one day, you would adventure together.

Penny had cried.

Your heart was warm, watching Yuuji, Jas, and Vincent play in the apple-bobbing bucket and participate in slingshot games. Yuuji bounced up and down when he spotted you and his teacher, begging the two of you to come and play with them.

Life had felt whole.

Despite the labor that went into caring for your crops and animals, you had never felt so fulfilled.

Having just cracked level 50 in the mines that weekend, you grew excited when a day would come when you would have the chance to explore more of the depths.

It was not simply for personal gain, either. Though it was nice to have useful ore and pretty gemstones, you couldn't help but love feeling useful to your friends in town. Hunting the monsters below the surface was never too much work when it meant seeing their grateful faces.

Not too long after the town fair the forecast called for rain. Those days were designated for the awaiting mineshaft as you had little to do around the farm.

Back then, you had never thought it would cause this.

--

Night had fallen when you were found. It was dark, and relentlessly pouring rain, you could hear its aggressive pitter-patter on the ceiling of the cave.

You squeezed your eyes and tried to move but your body cried out against the stretch. You drew your hands down to the earth you were strewn upon. Your fingers traced the dirt below you.

Dirt?

Your eyes shot open. Heart beating as if you had never lost consciousness. Your vision and skull were pulsing painfully with the beats of your heart. You flung your head around dramatically.

You were within the face of the cave, you could just make out the Mountain Lake through the rain...

Your palm finds your forehead, and some kind of inhuman noise escapes you. Your brain was just starting to question how you moved up 55 levels when you opened your eyes again and saw him.

A man is squatting by your side, he looks... furious... to say the least.

Not expecting to see anything but a ghost in the case of your survival, you gasp. Shifting away from his all-too-close glower.

"Stay still you moron." He's gripping your shoulder with a hand, pulling you closer, you hadn't seen or felt it before, but he's got his other hand on your shin.

"Wha-what- how-who- I just-" Nicely said. Very eloquent.

He seems to scowl even more, despite not thinking it possible.

"Are you out of your mind?" His eyes glow red in the dark of the cavern. Though he has brought himself close to the ground in examining you, he is still a looming presence. "How can a damn farmer not have any food on them?"

"I just- I was" It was then that you realize who the man before you is. You had met him this past week, in the adventurers guild. The embarrassment you felt increased ten fold. "I had some...but-"

"What? You used it all and didn't think to head back? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He released his grip on your left calf and a fiery pain shoots up your leg. You gasp.

"No-!" You shake with the feeling.

"Sure looks like you are." The man shoulders his backpack to his front and starts searching for something.

Gratitude is the last thing on your mind. You're already ashamed enough but this man... this Sukuna was it? He was being unnecessarily rude.

He finally brings out a wad of cheese wrapped in parchment, and hands it to you.

"Eat. Your runnin' on fumes right now."

You huff but don't try to hide your desperation. Accepting the cheese and scarfing it down. Once it's settled in your stomach you feel much more alive. The pain in your calf is still very real but at least you have enough energy to make it home.

You push down at the ground, attempting to lift yourself but the weight on your leg causes a dramatic whimper to escape your throat. The pain was blinding. You'd have to see Harvey about this...

"What are ya doing?!" The tattooed man shoves your shoulders once more to keep you from rising.

"I'm trying- I need to get back..." You shake off his grip.

He laughs at you. But there's no smile on his face. It's cruel. "You really must be an idiot." Your brows furrow. "You aint walkin' on that leg." He points, and when you make no reply, he tugs up at the hem of your pants.

It's strange. He is the biggest, burliest man you've ever encountered, to countryman or city man alike, he is... quite large. He has a rough voice too, and a brutal look. Yet the touch he leaves on your ankle as he relives its weight, sliding the pantleg up, is as clement as a kitten.

This gentle juxtaposition throws you and it takes a moment for you to realize his intention to show you the blackened bruise that covers your left leg, ankle to shin. All air leaves you.

"You were fully out by the time I got down there. You're lucky most beasts here aint hungry for human flesh." He tucks your pant leg into your sock, softly settling your leg onto the ground once more.

You stare at his bent form. "Well...I'm- Thank you, you didn't have to get me, but I appreciate it." He's making an incredulous face, insulted. "And-" You speak up, "for the cheese as well, I feel much better."

He scoffs- "Oh, I didn't have to? And I suppose I'm to just leave ya to die? Gimmie a break."

He's stood to his full height just then, as he makes his way to peer out of the cave entrance you roll your eyes. Mentally retracting your thanks.

"Picked a great day to be here. Real nice choice of weather." He's taking off his backpack, then his jacket.

"Well..." You huff, "I guess you can come down here whenever you please but I'm busy with the farm when it's not raining, so actually today was ideal weather." You cross your arms, annoyed. Then work yourself up to try and stand once more.

"Oh yea?" He shuffles in his bag again, "Well I'd imagine if you were so busy with farm work you wouldn't come down here without some food to sustain your travel." He looks at your wobbling form now, and hisses between his teeth, dropping his bag.

"What the hell is wrong with you??!" His voice is frightening, and your eyes shake as you watch him stomp your way. "Couldn't wait one second, huh?"

"I need to get home, it's almost midnight..." You were starting to get fed up with his attitude. He's rolling his eyes and scoffing as if you've done something wrong.

But then he does something strange. He's grunts, squatting right beside you, but he's turned now, his broad back in your face.

"What... are you doing?" You squint at him.

"Thought you needed to get home." He turns to look at you, "Are you suddenly getting patient now?"

"What? No! I can do it myself!" As you say it you become more sure of yourself. There is no way you are letting this pompous prick carry you all the way to the farmhouse.

This time he sounds as if his laugh might be a bit more genuine. "Don't-make-me-laugh." His voice is mean and he turns to face you. "You're dumber than I thought if you're gonna try and walk home on that," he points to your leg, "in this." He directs his finger to the cave entrance, illuding to the downpour outside.

You grit your teeth. Almost wanting to swing at him. "Fine. Carry me then. Since I'm clearly incapable." Some part of your presumes he'll leave you here to fend for yourself. But he just frowns.

Disbelief covers his brows. "S'what I was trying to do from the start." His voice is low, and he turns once more, one arm pulls your own over his right shoulder, the other cradles your wounded leg.

"I'm gonna pull. Don't hoist yourself."

It's annoying. How prominent his lats and lower traps are. He lifts you, his right hand locked on your forearm, holding it to his chest. Now that he has risen, he uses his other arm to swing your left leg across his hip, allowing you to find a comfortable position as his new backpack.

There was a strain in your body as he had lifted you, but still, you're shocked by how effortless he made it look.

Too afraid to make a noise for fear of something stupid like "wow" coming out, you hold tight in silence as he bends down to grab his jacket. As he swings it across your form, the zipper hits your temple.

"Ow!" You grumble in his ear and he chuckles.

Bastard.

He bends once more to grab his bag and with it in hand, starts off through the mountains.

You never asked for his jacket. And you wouldn't have either. But you do feel a little bad that he is getting soaked while your clothes remain almost perfectly dry.

You swing your elbow onto his shoulder and bring your hand to the top of his head to block the rain.

"Enough of that." He swats away your hovering hand, "M' not made of sugar."

"Could've fooled me." You mumble

He reaches up to you with an open hand, finds your head with precision, and promptly flicks your skull with a firm finger.

"Ow!" You whine, tearing his hand from your forehead and tugging his ear like a grandma.

It's silent for a while as he treks past the carpenter's house, and into the path behind the bus station. "I'm just down here." You point. Trying to avoid the awkward silence.

"I know where the farm is." He motions your hand away once more.

Okay. You grit your teeth. Why can he not just be friendly like everyone else in this town?

When you begin to see the lights of your house, your heart starts to pulse. Are you supposed to invite him in? Is he going to lay you in bed? Your mind spins.

Before stomping up your porch steps, he grabs a large stick that your dog undoubtably has been carrying around and leans it against your door. "You good to be dropped off here? Or d'ya need me to tuck you in too?"

Little. Brat.

"I think I'll fair just fine like this." You force out. An attempt at cordiality.

"Alright then." He reaches around, gripping the small of your back, and gently lowers you to a stack of logs you keep for winter. Not allowing you to swing down and fall.

A small part of you wants to thank him. Was he an annoying git? Yes. But he didn't need to go to all the trouble to carry you home. Even so, his irritating remarks still float in your recent memory, so instead of a 'thank you', you say,

"The town is that way!" Pointing to the path he had walked past. His back had turned from you and continued south.

He turns around only for a moment.

"I'm well aware. I've lived here a'lot longer than you." He turns once more, making his way down to the forest.

"That's the way to the CIdersap Forest though?" You shout after him over the roars of the wind.

"Really?" He yells over the storm, not turning back, but moving slowly, "Didn't know."

"Well...." You lean on the stick he brought you to stand, "Where are you headed, it's nearly morning!"

The man turns one last time a grimace on his face. "I live in the Cidersap Forest."

His words permeated your brain now that he's gone from your vision. How could that be? That's where Marnie, Leah, and Jin lived. Could it be that there was a place you hadn't encountered in your year at the Village? Maybe so, seeing as you had only met the Hunter this past week.

The events of the night weighed on your shoulders as you limped into your house, gently closing the door. Your dog was wagging its tail, laying in bed, waiting for you.

It wasn't until you were about to flop on your bed that you realized: he had left you his jacket.

[penny-anna]

how different Owl House characters might fare in a time travel AU (let's say back from 5 years post canon, dropped into their own body, classic scenario):

Luz: pretty good I think? i feel like she'd be able to convince Eda & King that she's telling the truth pretty easily. other characters would be tougher. post-canon Luz gives off the impression of being pretty smart and savvy plus she'd have the benefit of Glyph Mastery. most likely danger is that she'd end up over-planning and everything would just fall apart. Also the question of whether she'd manage to re-win Amity's heart.

Eda: my gut feeling was 'nothing would change' but that's not fair. would have no issue getting Luz to believe her bcos like Luz just wandered into a fantasy world someone there being like 'hi I'm your friend from the future' would be like aight let's chat. would probably hook up w Raine & their rebellion very early and get a lot of shit done.

Amity: would have a tough time getting anyone to believe her i think. also a much tougher time winning over Luz & her other friends as I don't think she'd be great at handling that situation. I could see her trying to just go it alone.

Willow: hmm i feel like she'd handle this pretty well? i think she'd do a good job of getting other people on side. similar to Luz might over plan it and end up completely losing her mind. would probably be there like 'okay now everyone's together, step one, we go rescue the Golden Guard'.

Gus: I feel like Gus & Willow mutually would trust each other unreservedly in this situation so he'd defo have at least 1 ally. significantly hampered by being 12 years old again. honestly i could see him leaping immediately to 'let's just kill Belos right now'.

Hunter: worst & yet also best option. no natural allies. extremely aware that if Belos suspects anything he is gonna be super dead. saving flapjack would be a very high priority. if we're sending him back to the beginning of s1 tho good chance of him just showing up at the Owl House and successfully winning Luz over for reasons of s1 Luz is down for anything; if we're sending him back to early s2 he's having a much rougher time.

Lilith: oh she would go insane I think

King: nobody would take King seriously

Hooty: nothing would change & i am not convinced he would even tell anyone

[artbyblastweave]

Heroify: Kingpin

Compared to some of the other characters people have sent in today this is like shooting monkeys in a barrel!

Part of the reason Fisk is such a good Daredevil villain is that he's already got a lot of the basic elements you need to make a street-level hero work- the will, the drive, the protectiveness, the territoriality, and the quote-unquote "badass normal" peak human fighting ability that, let's not fuck around here, is absolutely a superpower even if the chickenshit writers won't directly admit to that. It's just that he uses those abilities to be a crime boss rather than to fight crime bosses. To put himself in charge of his childhood bullies instead of fighting his bullies. A classic case of "If only he'd used his immense capacity for interpersonal violence for good." What would make him stand out from all the other heroes in his niche is his propensity for Empire-building, his complete inability not to build up some kind of organization from scratch, and what that impulse might look like in a superheroic context.

I'm imagining that his initial schtick is that of a Bully Hunter. After getting ripped and wiping the floor with his childhood bullies-or maybe this is one of the versions who offed his own father for beating on his Mother- he embraces the specific high of the "pick on someone your own size" routine, and he becomes The Big Man, the guy you go to when you need somebody who's been getting away with something for a while cut down to size. Upstairs neighbor is beating his wife and kid senseless, and nobody does anything because his brother's a cop? Call The Big Man. Real Estate Baron's using his connections to try to muscle out the residents of a tenement? The Big Man's gonna pay them a visit. Boss at the diner's withholding your paychecks and getting away with it because you're undocumented? You get where this is going. He usually doesn't kill people- not out of any particular code, but out of a combination of pragmatism and sadism. He's smart enough to engineer situations in a way that he can claim self-defense or frame someone's tumble down the stairs as an unfortunate accident or rely on the unexamined illegality of whatever his target was doing to prevent them from getting the police involved. He's got a bit of a financial cushion, as well, because all of this is actually his side gig- he's still a very successful, if not as cutthroat, local businessman, because hospitalizing domestic abusers doesn't pay the bills. As a power move, he does most of this under his own name- he's got a "costume" in the form of the distinct suit, and a nominal codename, but part of the bit, part of the point he's making, is that he's slightly better at weaseling out of the consequences of his actions than the people he targets. Always a bigger fish, after all. Power is relative. His thematic niche is distinct from Daredevil's abstract sense of idealized justice. It's not Frank Castles mechanical eye-for-an-eye approach. It's about the satisfaction of leaving a certain category of wrongdoer alive, so that they can remain very, very afraid.

Of course, since his entire bit is that he keeps putting untouchable assholes in fullbody casts, the attempts on his life start stacking up- First it's Ed the domestic abuser and his buddies from the bar coming around for a rematch, and then goon squads, then hand ninjas, then low-rent supervillains- and because The Big Man toes the line of being an actual superhuman, he's usually winning these things, and coming out ahead in the PR game for beating down a bunch of costumed thugs attacking his Perfectly Legitimate Art Gallery- but it's a pain that his office keeps getting firebombed. And this is where you start to reap the benefits of having done under-the-table favors for hundreds of people all over New York- The Big Man has a network now. The Big Man knows guys who knows guys, some of whom owe him favors, some of whom are just really afraid of him coming back for round two. The Big Man can pull together a hundred guys with crowbars and hammers on a day's notice, if he happens to need something like that. If he doesn't know someone with a backdoor into Tombstone's fortified penthouse or Hammerhead's mansion, if he doesn't know someone with incriminating information on Silvermane or Norman Osborn, well. He knows their cousin. And once he thinks to begin leveraging this? If the people escalating things have specific addresses, by the end of the week they very likely don't.

It's not as if he eliminates all criminal activity. He's not even interested in doing so. Like half the painting's he's selling are really convincing forgeries. But things hit a point where there's simply a hard practical limit on how imperial a supercriminal's ambitions in New York can become, how domineering, how visible to the man on the street, before The Big Man decides it's time to make a point and starts calling people, who in turn start calling people.

[dotthings]

Dean was so traumatized by Cas's decision to do self-penance in Purgatory and push Dean away and let go of his hand at the portal, that Dean's brain rewrote the memories until he blamed himself. Losing Cas was unbearable, even more unbearable was the idea that it was because Cas felt the need to self-punish for everything he'd done. Rejecting coming home with Dean.

Dean was struggling and screaming trying to go after Cas into the other dimension after Cas raced through a portal to go after Lucifer, and Sam had to physically restrain him.

When Cas died in the S12 finale, Dean fell to the ground on his knees next to Cas and stayed there for who knows how long and then he carried Cas's body into the cabin and wrapped his body with torn curtains he ripped with his own hands, and as far as we have seen nobody else was allowed to come into that room but Dean, and he sat vigil with Cas's body. Dean couldn't even admit out loud that Cas was dead.

Dean yelled at God to bring Cas back and got bloodied knuckles from punching his grief against a sign. When Bobby was dying in S7, Dean punched a picture on the wall in the hospital, breaking the frame.

Eventually Dean reached a point where he could burn the body. Just as Dean and Sam burned their father's body and their mother's body. The act of a hunter burning the body of a loved one. Sam had to burn Dean's body at the end of S15. Dean burned Charlie's body in S10.

Dean lost his sense of hope and his suicidal ideation increased--he insisted on being injected and temporarily dying in order to communicate with a child ghost they were trying to help. Dean also temp died to try to help Sam many seasons back, he did that for Sam, and for a child they barely know. But losing Cas took his sense of hope and made him even more reckless.

Getting Cas back transformed Dean. The show conveyed it symbolically with light washing over Dean the moment he got the call. And then we watched his joy and sense of purpose return. He called Cas his big win.

Again, I didn't make the rules. These are canon events. I'm merely reporting them. Cas matters.

[gamerwoo]

Bang Chan: The Girl Who Didn't Cry Wolf (Part Two)

Characters: Bang Chan x fem reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, enemies-to-lovers-ish??, slowburn, werewolf/alpha!chan, (werewolf)hunter!reader, angst, a tiny bit of fluff, mentions that reader moved to korea, if i missed anything lmk!!

Word count: 1,953

Summary: You've learned to do whatever you can to protect yourself after an incident almost a decade ago had your father and brother dragging you to a new country to start all over even though they blamed you for what happened. After finding yourself stuck in a house of werewolves, you're forced to come to terms with your feelings over what happened back home when the alpha imprints on you and his pack claims they're keeping you prisoner. You know exactly how this will end if you give in, and yet you can't seem to get yourself to leave the sweet and charming werewolf who's willing to do anything to make you comfortable. You're just hoping that maybe there'll be a good end this time.

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“So am I your captive or what?”

Chan paused, looking up from his food, “What?”

You looked back at him, still chewing a mouthful of food, sitting criss-cross on his bed while he ate on the bed opposite yours, “Are you holding me hostage here until I… I don’t know, do whatever I’m supposed to do? Succumb to Stockholm syndrome or something?”

It was the next morning when Chan knocked on your door once again, and he didn’t actually expect you to open the door for him. You looked back at him with no expression, just blinking as he stared back in surprise. He was frozen seeing you cooperating even a little bit.

Strange werewolf hunter, was all he could think.

He had told you breakfast was about to be ready, but then you scowled and stated you weren’t going downstairs to eat with the pack. Were you holding a grudge against the two members of his pack that you’d scuffled with? Well, yeah. They both hurt you pretty badly – especially that Seungmin guy. If you had a chance, you’d give him a piece of your mind.

So a few minutes later, Chan returned with two plates of food and with a grin, said he was going to eat with you upstairs. So that’s what you were doing. And, again, he was shocked you were letting him keep you company. You were…oddly nice for a werewolf hunter – or supposed werewolf hunter.

“There’s no Stockholm syndrome if you’re not captive,” he chuckled with a shrug. “I guess…yeah, you could leave if you wanted.”

You were surprised by his answer, freezing mid-bite and just staring at him for a moment. He stared back, raising his eyebrows for your response.

“You’re not gonna force me into being your mate…?” you quizzed slowly, surprised that he was telling you that you had the option to leave.

“I mean, you and I both know I’m a hell of a lot stronger than this door. If I wanted to do anything to you, I could’ve by now, but you survived a night here. Woke up safe and sound,” he pointed out. “Besides…you could probably kill me if you wanted to.”

While that was true, you didn’t know if he could sense you didn’t have any plans to do so – at least not to Chan. You had started out as a hunter, but after fleeing to Korea, your father started training you and your brother to hunt werewolves specifically. And while you might’ve been really good at most parts of the training, it didn’t mean you liked what you were doing. But you wouldn’t let your father or brother know that.

“I don’t really have any weapons that could subdue a werewolf, though,” you reminded him.

“Well maybe if someone didn’t try to pull a knife on one of my pack,” he cocked his head and gave you a pointed smile.

“Nobody got hurt,” you scoffed, going back to your breakfast.

“There would’ve been a round two in my kitchen if I didn’t catch you before you jumped Minho,” he stated.

Okay, maybe he was right. However, the question of if you’d win that fight or not was definitely debatable considering you only had that tiny pocket knife as your weapon. Among…other reasons. But again, you were unsure if he knew that. He must’ve. He probably didn’t sense any werewolf hunter with you in the house, which was actually embarrassing on your part.

You were just grateful your father and brother lacked the senses that werewolves had.

As you settled into a surprisingly comfortable silence as you ate, your mind began to wander as it tended to do since ending up in this situation. And there was a lot to think about considering Chan was a werewolf, and you were a werewolf hunter who had…very strange circumstances.

Despite the fact you were training to be his sworn enemy, Chan didn’t seem to care. It was like he completely disregarded whatever instincts he had, and had given into the mating pull already. How he managed to just let go without a care, you weren’t sure. Your favorite answer was that Chan was just crazy and didn’t know how to be careful. But you figured it was because of how strong the pull was. Because if what the hunters taught you was correct about the strength of the pull, it would lead a person to do some very crazy and dangerous things…

But you were crazy, too, weren’t you? Because you hadn’t threatened him, tried to harm him, or even tried to run away once. You stayed in his bed when you woke up that morning and just thought. You didn’t try to sneak out or scream for help. You were letting this werewolf hold you captive, but he wasn’t even holding you captive. You were just staying at your own will at this point while his arms stayed wide open, giving you an out.

Yes, both of you were crazy. But maybe you were crazier than he was because the pull wasn’t even as strong for you as it was for him.

So, to at least keep a shred of your pride, you broke the silence and said, “Don’t think that this means I trust you now. I only wanted sustenance.”

“Of course,” he smiled, rolling his eyes. “Wouldn’t dream of it, hunter.”

“Your alpha must be angry with you,” you mused, putting a little less food into your mouth this time. “You’re a stupid wolf for imprinting on a– werewolf hunter.”

You hoped he didn’t notice how you hesitated with your words for a split second, the sentence almost flowing seamlessly but not quite as you tacked the ‘werewolf’ on at the last second.

But he didn’t seem to, scoffing with amusement by your comment, but he didn’t say why. Instead, he sat back in the chair like he was becoming more relaxed around you, especially now that your stomach had quieted.

“You’re one to talk. You let a wolf into your room when you have no weapons or defense. I even locked you in here and you didn’t complain once,” he pointed out. “I haven’t even heard you screaming for help up here.”

Your mouth opened, but silence followed instead. You almost gave yourself away, stopping before it was almost too late.

You realized Chan reminded you of him. Actually, the whole scenario did. You weren't sure you liked that, feeling your stomach twist uncomfortably.

“What’s up?” Chan wondered, noticed you staring into space with your mouth open.

Your mouth snapped shut and you quickly shook your head, “Nothing.”

You were becoming too soft around him so quickly. You were getting too comfortable without realizing, and you knew it was because of the mating pull. Suddenly, you could hear your brother and father’s voices in your head.

All werewolves are bad, _____, your father spat in your face during your very first werewolf hunter lesson, Even if you think you know them, they’re evil, horrible creatures! If you don’t kill them first, they’ll turn on you eventually.

But that memory made you think of another…

It’s your fault this happened, Nolan had scoffed at you once after one of your training sessions. You weren’t very good back then because, frankly, you didn’t want to be good, and your brother was pissed at you for not putting your heart in it, If it wasn't for you, we’d still be home and everyone would be happy and alive. Then you act like you don’t even want to make things right? I should shoot you myself, you fucking traitor.

You set the food down and shoved it away from you.

“I think you should go,” you stated coldly.

Chan suddenly sat up straighter, confusion on his face at how you suddenly seemed to just flip a switch, “What?”

“Get out,” you told him, looking across the room at him, dead in the eyes.

“I– What? Wait, was it what I said?” he asked quickly with a twinge of hurt in his eyes that you definitely noticed as he stood from the bed. “_____, I didn’t mean–”

You stood from the bed and pointed at the door, “You just had to feed me. I’m fed. Go. Away.”

Chan stood as well and walked over to where you stood in the middle of the room. Without thinking, he reached out to hold your hand, “_____–”

Immediately, your instincts kicked in. You quickly turned on your heel, keeping his hand in yours while reaching for his arm with the other, holding it over your shoulder. Then you pulled and bent over, throwing the werewolf over your body until he landed with a loud thud on the hardwood.

He didn’t even seem hurt. He just stared up at you in shock. He even seemed…a bit impressed. You’d just flipped him with ease.

You were shocked yourself. Some part of you felt...bad.

But now you could hear multiple sets of feet running up the stairs, and you knew you were in for it if his pack saw that you flipped him on his back. You harmed him. You were a threat to them now. Obviously you couldn’t fight all of them, so you just wanted to keep them all away from you.

“You have five seconds to get out of my room,” you told him, sounding more panicked than menacing.

Instead, he gave you a defeated look and pushed himself off the floor before going over to the bedroom door and unlocking it. He didn’t even look behind him as he left, but you heard the whine come from his chest.

Once the door was closed and you had locked it once again, you waited until you heard the commotion of the pack retreat back down the stairs. Then you sat back down on Chan’s bed and let out a deep sigh. Why did it have to be you? You were going through enough with conflicting ideals that went against what your family wanted you to feel. Now whatever higher power out there had to make it worse and force you to have feelings for a werewolf? Why did you have to be stuck being his mate? Why you? Why you?

You decided you needed to escape. The thought sent a twinge of pain to your heart that reminded you–

You shook the thought from your head, blinking rapidly to fight back tears as you took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Leaving was the only option for either of you to be safe. You wouldn’t tell Chan you wanted to keep him safe, but you knew you felt it and you had to act on it. The alternative was both of you getting killed, and probably even his pack. That wasn’t something you could let happen.

You glanced at the window that was perfectly centered between Chan's bed and Felix's. You stood and went to examine it, seeing a tree not too far from the window. You could probably jump to it and then climb down. Maybe while the pack was asleep.

You’d leave that night, you decided. You felt bad, thinking about leaving without any explanation. Maybe you could find a way to get some paper and a pen or something to leave a note?

No. If there was any evidence that you felt bad leaving…

As much as it hurt, you had to do it. You had to do a lot of other things in your life that hurt, anyway, so this was no different. Suck it up and carry on like always.

You were a strong werewolf hunter, after all. You had a reputation to live up to.

»»————-　　————-««

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[a-french-coconut]

Drew Tanaka

I think we can all agree that Drew Tanaka only purpose was to highlight Piper and making her look the good guy (well, girl).

She's mean, bullies her siblings and other campers and yet we don't have a single explanation about her actions. This my explanation for her behaviour that slowly turned into a headcanon

From the books she understand that she is still hurt and bitter by Silena's betrayal and hey way to cope is to be mean with everyone. Since she's mean nobody likes her and everyone at camp treats Silena as a hero, leaving Drew alone in her grief. She has every right to despise Silena for what she did, her sister turned her back to camp and her, helped the Titan Army by sabotaging the quests : Percy and Beckendorf but also the hunters' quest (the skeletons soldiers were only able to track the questers because they something belonging to Zoe and it was probably thanks to Silena). So yeah, in the Lost Hero, a year after the battle, Drew is still mad and since nobody will accept her point of view, it only worsens.

As of why she's mean to her siblings, I figured it was some kind of defence mechanism : if they don't get close to her as Silena did, they can't hurt her. It's definitely not healthy but she's a fifteen year old girl who fought a war and lost people : she copes as she can.

Drew dislikes Piper at first sight. Now I don't really have an explanation for that because she doesn't know that Piper is her sister but maybe she judged from her appearance that they were going to dislike each other : one with chopped brown hair, doesn't wear makeup and has ragged clothes vs long and wavy hair, perfect makeup, impeccable clothes. It's a stretch and a bad one at that but it is all I can come up with. Cabin 10 is regarded as a bunch of pretty guys and girls who don't fight. Drew must have thought that Piper fit the profile of those mocking her cabin and disliked her on the spot.

And when Piper refuses to do the Rite of Passage ? Just like Silena ? Drew can't see Piper without seeing the ghost of her deceased sister. It is infuriating because everyone is on Piper's side, just like they are on Silena's. They choose her over Drew for going on a quest when she literally arrived in the morning ?? And then Piper has the audacity of challenging her for the position of head counsellor because she went on a quest and now she thinks she can do a better job than Drew ? She begins preaching about how Silena was right when she never met the girl and doesn't know a single thing about Silena and how she was like. Piper might have gone a quest but Drew has been a demigod for years, have fought for Camp Half-Blood and Olympus twice and maybe she never went on a quest but she fought a war and survived. In her book that's all she needs to accept Piper's duel and beat her swiftly. She wins but still gives her position to Piper. Let's see how she manages running a cabin full of children. But Piper leaves again and the mantle falls on her again. But Drew is tired of pushing everyone away, she wants to gossip with Lacy and Mitchell about who they like, wants to teach to properly shoot an arrow and grab a sword. She is tired of being hated by the whole camp for not forgiving her sister. Most of all she is tired of the mix of anger and sorrow she feels every time she thinks of Silena.

When Piper comes back, Drew offers a smile with the promise of trying to open up to other people. She won't forgive Silena, not yet, but she can stop comparing her sister to a ghost from her past.

Oh wow, I'm definitely going to write something about Drew, she is an amazing canvas to explore.

[edgessunflower]

hey sunshine !

What do you think of a Rhea X reader where Rhea always tease her and after a fight in the ring were Rhea was harder to her nobody can find the reader. Rhea starts panicking because she likes her secretly much. Nearly two months later she goes home to her to talk. When reader opens the door she can see that her belly got bigger (she's pregnant and her partner broke up when he found out) nobody knew it and reader tell her everything that happend and tell her that after the fight in the ring she had to go to the doc. Rhea feels so bad and tell her about her feelings. Sooo super fluff they are together in the end and she gets a girl named Rosie ❤️‍🩹🩵

Ofc hon!

Rosie

Pairing: Rhea Ripley x Fem reader

Description: You disappear after finding out you're pregnant and Rhea finds you two months later leading to you and Rhea becoming a couple and parents

You stand in the ring in a tag team match with Rhea against Bayley and Iyo Sky but rhea and the boys who stood ringside watching notice that you weren't yourself. Normally you dove right into a match and never backed away from minor hits but each time bayley or iyo would swing close especially towards your stomach and waist you would jump even dive away with fear in your eyes before tagging rhea in whispering in her ear as she tagged you back in that you were sorry for making her feel like you were dead weight which made a light bulb go off in her mind after she says "If you don't win this don't bother coming home", you freak out badly when iyo tries to suplex you and throw you on the ropes crying and begging both women not to which made them drop you on your feet or back as you lay wide eyed making them stand confused as you wave your hand locking eyes with bayley before she puts you in a headlock only to hear you whisper "Baby in my belly" which makes her jerk away shaking her head yelling to iyo "We're not finishing this match". Before iyo can find out why you quickly roll bayley and get the win, masking your emotions as the boys hug you feeling your heart drop at the look on rhea's face before an argument broke out immediately heading backstage throwing up from your anxiety writing a note saying you had to go to a doctor which confirmed your pregnancy leading your boyfriend of the time to leave you alone as you secretly call Hunter along with Adam Pearce to let them know of your absence which they show support for you if you needed help which warmed your heart before hanging up and crying afraid of what you were going to do as rhea finds the note and her and the boys freak out finding out that you will be on leave of absence for awhile. After two months of unanswered calls and texts rhea finally gets hunter to crack seeing that she was absolutely worried for you since she loved you dearly more than anyone could know as he tells her your new home address but not that you were currently three months pregnant as she feels relief as she knocks on the door but she feels her heart swoon and drop seeing your small bump as your eyes fill with tears pulling rhea in and telling her everything including that you have feelings for her for years but got with your boyfriend afraid of rejection but rhea pulls you into an emotional tender kiss placing her hand gently on your bump leading to an emotional night of making up for lost time with you kissing rhea's thighs and buried between her legs until the two of you were asleep waking up to her caressing your belly before she was eating you out making you feel things that you had never felt before turning to putty as she slowly kisses your thighs, all over your belly, your breasts, and then your lips "You have such a special place in my life and heart, now with this baby that has only grown and no matter what you both will have me right by your side" the two of you were over the moon of finally being together and that you were becoming parents leading to the two of you getting engaged a month before your daughter Rosie was born and then the two of you get married five months later having the life the two of you always wanted with each other.

[erendur]

Elwing, "the people of Sirion" , drug money and bad decision-making

My two cents that nobody asked for on the Sirion situation (with (almost) no discussion of property rights ! because I think that's beside the point !), for which I will draw a lazy parallel with No Country for Old Men.

So : 1. The Silmaril as dirty drug money

In No Country for Old Men (book or film, makes no difference here because I am going to simplify the shit out of these themes), the protagonist stumbles one day on a drug deal gone bad at the US-Mexican border. There's been a shoot-out, and everybody is dead (I said I was going to simplify). Amid the massacre, the protagonist finds a suitcase full of what is clearly dirty drug money (several millions of dollars worth of it). He decides to take the money, and run away with it to a better life. He thinks his odds are pretty good : he is a skilled hunter, and a Vietnam veteran, so he can move around in the desert pretty much undetected, and can shoot well. He has good survival skills, and is poor. Obviously (spoilers), things do not end well for him. The gangs whose dirty money he has taken are very determined to get their money back (is it really "their" money is beside the point there), are obviously very violent, well-armed, and not squeamish. The protagonist ends up dead.

Now of course the bad guys in the story are the violent drug cartels. But also pretty obviously from my point of view, taking something from violent, determined and ruthless people; that they consider to be theirs, whether they are right or not, is very poor decision-making. It's not about what is morally wrong or right (the DRUG LORDS are in the wrong, obviously), it's about what is a sane decision and what is not.

I don't know about you, but if I were to find a stash of very obviously dirty money somewhere, I wouldn't bring it back home. I would leave its vicinity so fast that I would probably beat a world-record for velocity.

And the worst you think the Fëanorians are, the least sense it makes to keep the Silmaril away from them, especially after they have very clearly proven their determination to kill for it in Doriath.

Pre-Doriath, you could argue that few people knew about the oath. Even people who hate the Fëanorians would frankly be at pains to find anything bad that they did between Alqualondë and the massacre at Doriath (and Alqualondë was not about the Silmarils, or not directly). So the decision made by Thingol or Dior not to return the Silmaril at that point could have been born, in part, of a bad reading of the situation : they did not expect the Fëanorians to attack, or if they did, the expected to win (and thought they were in the right, but I won't go into this now).

Post-Doriath, though ?

Which leads me to : 2. Who took the bad decision to keep the drug money away from the violent drug-lords (and who are "the people of Sirion ?")

So now, lets' get to Elwing - and "the people of Sirion" (I'm using quotations marks on this one, because I have thought about this).

The Silm says that "(...) Elwing and the people of Sirion would not yield the jewel which Beren had worn and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the fair was slain ; and least of all while Eärendil their lord was on the sea, for it seemed to them that in the Silmaril lay the healing and the blessing that had come upon their houses and their ships".

It's presented here as though the decision to keep the Silmaril - or, in my analogy, the drug money that the violent drug cartel had firmly asked to be returned - was a collective one. It's Elwing AND "the people of Sirion".

I have several thoughts on that. The first one is that it seems that even though Maedhros writes to Elwing, she doesn't seem to be too much in charge of the situation. We are also told, earlier on in the same chapter, that :,"Bright Eärendil was then lord of the people that dwelt nigh to Sirion's mouths ; and he took to wife Elwing the fair (...)", so it seems that it seems that Eärendil is in charge, and Elwing is...his wife. It's obviously my interpretation, but in spite of the whole "gender equality" among Elves, women seem to have very little power, especially at a political level, so I fully believe that she did not make that decision alone.

Who, then, are "the people of Sirion" ? For me, given the context and the time period Jirt is drawing from when creating his world, it is pretty clear that "the people of Sirion" are Eärendil's, or maybe Elwing's, advisors, or at least the most important people in Sirion (lords and the like), that were left in charge along Elwing when Eärendil left. I don't believe that it means that the decision to keep the drug-money was a democratic one, because we just have zero instance of democratic process/decision making in Tolkien's world. It's all monarchy-this and lord-that.

In any case, these people clearly feel that they cannot give the Silmaril back without Eärendil's approval. What right, as an aside, does Eärendil have to the Silmaril, you might ask (that's the "almost" part of the "almost no discussion of property rights") ? To me, it seems again that given the time-period Jirt is drawing from and all that, he has a "right" to it because he is the lord of these people, and Elwing is his wife. Married women in Medieval England did not have property rights, all of their possessions automatically became their husband's.

But back to "the people of Sirion". Even if you disagree with my analysis that it basically means "Sirion's important people who were left in charge along with Elwing because she can't be trusted to make all the decisions on her own because she is a woman", this would be a mix of refugees from both Gondolin and Doriath.

Now, the people from Gondolin have lived for centuries walled off in their magical city, and have escaped it amid hellish destruction and Balrogs. They would sound like the kind of people that would think that they could take on a few Fëanorians (wrongly, but they only find out about that later). So the decision to keep the drug money would make some sense. They think they can defend it.

The picture the quotation above gives of "The people of Sirion", however, make them look like they are mostly concerned with the Silmaril in relation with the people of Doriath. " (...)the jewel which Beren had worn and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the fair was slain."

Could be sympathy, could be the people of Doriath speaking there. And that's where I feel like screaming "give the drug money back to the merciless drug lords, you fool !!!!" Because, if the people of Gondolin get the benefit of the doubt as to how much they know about the evilness and the determination of the Fëanorians, the people of Doriath do not ! They were there ! They fled from the massacre ! How on Earth do they think that keeping the Simaril is a good idea ???

And then, we have the final lines : "for it seemed to them that in the Silmaril lay the healing and the blessing that had come upon their houses and their ships."

They don't want to give the Simaril back, because they think it does them good. The Silmaril as a holy object seems wholly addictive, and no one seems to be able to give it up voluntarily. And to go back to my drug money analogy, would a bunch of refugees be able to benefit from a few millions dollars, and do good things with them ? Sure, they would. Would they put the money to better use than the drug-lords ? Sure again. Does it make keeping it a good decision ? Nope, certainly not.

So, to sum up that long portion, "the people of Doriath", along with Elwing, seem to take the decision to keep the Silmaril because

some of them, the Gondolin ones, might underestimate the Fëanorians' determination / overestimate their strength ;

they think they can't make the decision to get rid of the Silmaril without Eärendil, their true lord ;

they are making decisions based on the sunk cost fallacy effect (the Doriath people have already suffered so much at the hands of the drug lords, we can't give them what they want to make them go away, even though we know first hand how determined and ruthless they are - not rational decision-making - it's the same logic that makes you watch 4 seasons of a bad series because you've spend so much time watching the first 4 that you don't want it all to have been for nothing - or throw good money after bad - yes, that car has been a defective piece of crap from day 1, but I've already spent so much money on it that I have to keep going in the hope it eventually finishes by getting better)

the Silmaril is addictive

And all of this just makes for poor decision-making.

And my conclusion would be :

don't take the drug lords' money

don't think you could do good things with it and that that's reason enough to keep it

don't think that having had your relatives murdered over it should mean that you have to keep it all cost

and just bloody return it if you are asked for it, even if you think that the tone of the letter is a little bit stiff and haughty. It's not about who has a right to the dirty money, it's about saving your own skin.

[randomwriteronline]

I wonder if the Skrall would have been more compelling as a threat and made the necessity to unite the villages more urgent by like... Exploiting the glatorian system.

So in the story they are already outsiders whom nobody likes. They do nothing but fight and enslave agori and glatorian. Their alliance with the bone hunters is treated as a shocking concept - which you could consider fair since the other tribes dont do alliances apparently - but in insight its not that surprising. Uniting the tribes against them is also just... not really necessary? The Glatorian work for whoever pays them or whatever they believe in, and theyre fully capable of coming together independently from the villages to kick the skrall into a new pair of pants - plus as mentioned, this is their job. If the tribes unite and the Glatorian system ends, they end up losing their main source of income. Hell, Tarix and Ackar made the rules for the system, everybodys worked hard to keep it going smoothly and it hasnt caused any trouble in one hundred thousand years. Why should they get rid of it?

The tune changes if the Skrall are smart enough to maintain a semblance of legality.

The thing is that the Glatorian system accidentally sets itself up to be exploited by the Skrall. They are a tribe of warriors, of course theyll thrive in an environment where disputes are solved by controlled fighting where side that wins gets everything they demanded without any more arguments. We enslaved some of your people because they were trespassing on our territory, if you want them back fight us. We want this spot that's in your area and would let us get more water, if you want to keep it fight us. We need resources and we decided we want yours, if you have something to say about it fight us. And because they are formidable in the arena they keep winning and thus expanding their hold on Bara Magna inch by inch, and nobody can say anything against them because they do so legally through the Glatorian system, and if they start complaining about it and not respect the outcomes of matches against the Skrall that will lead to people not respecting the other matches' outcomes either and theyll all fall back into a war. So they grit their teeth and bear it, because its still better than fighting directly.

Except the Skrall don't have the time to keep doing this forever. The Baterra are coming and they need more land to put between themselves and them, and this careful approach is too slow - so they need to crush the other tribes, catch them between two fires, weaken them until theyre easy prey and have no choice better than submitting to them - so here comes the alliance with the Bone Hunters, that nobody would imagine because who would be foolish enough to work with them? Not even the Skrall, certainly...

And this is why the tribes must unite. Because the peacekeeping order they made isnt ensuring their safety anymore, and their insistence in staying separate is only making them easier targets.

[howlingday]

Master Hunters

Taiyang: So, you walked around, saw the city, racked up some wins, and got the guts to take on your ol' coach! Heh... You gotta do what you can, grind like crazy, and not let up, not even for a second!

Taiyang: The road to the top is long and hard, but that's why you gotta take it one step at a time. And that first step you took should always be something you're proud of.

--------------------------------------------------

Pyrrha: Juniper is a smart girl. She's never attacked a human before, but...

Juniper: (Snorts, Stamps feet)

Pyrrha: She gets a bit moody when she smells a coward.

Juniper: (Steps closer, Chitters teeth)

Juniper: (In your face, Teeth baring)

Pyrrha: ...Mm. (Claps) That's it!

Juniper: (Trots back to Pyrrha)

Pyrrha: (Scratches ears) You want to be strong, right? Then never forget to always have the courage to take that first step.

--------------------------------------------------

Nora: Wow! You're pretty good at this~!

Nora: (Jumps around) Remember, Nora-chan is a thunder sprite! So if you think like a thunder sprite, you'll move like one, too~!

Nora: Now, I want you to come back and help me sometimes. I'll make you the toughest thunder sprite there is!

--------------------------------------------------

Yang: (Snaps fingers)

Yang: Yo, yo! This is Yang-O! Been rockin' n' sockin' since Beac-O!

Yang: With STYLE~! Just do it! C'mon! Crank that beat~!

Yang: Move your body! I wanna see ya move your body~!

Yang: ...No, no, no. Come on, man! Where's the HEAT~?

Yang: You gotta FEEL the rhythm! Feel it way down to your bones~!

Yang: Hittem wit dat summertime feel~!

Yang: Rock 'em up to da stratosphere~!

Yang: Give them all you got, all you love~!

Yang: Let 'em all know dat you're here~!

Yang: Yeah~! Now you've got it~!

--------------------------------------------------

Klein: I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid Miss Schnee is far too busy.

Weiss: (Taps shoulder) Please, Klein. Allow me.

Weiss: I must say, you weren't half bad... at being thrown around, that is.

Weiss: Did you enjoy it? You must have. Why else would you have come all this way again?

Weiss: Oh? I'm wrong? Then maybe you're here to do some throwing around yourself?

Klein: Miss Schn-

Weiss: (Holds up hand) There's no need to be shy. Go ahead. Try to throw me.

Weiss: ...

Weiss: (Counter-grab, Tosses down)

Weiss: Oh, excuse me... I couldn't resist such an easy target.

Weiss: Throwing is about position and timing. If you haven't figured that out yet, then perhaps you and I should have another throw around?

--------------------------------------------------

Blake: Don't hesitate. I'm ready when you are.

Blake: (Dodge, Dodge, Dodge, Dodge, Counter)

Blake: (Feint, Strike, Push)

Blake: (Dodge, Backflip away, Aerial dive)

Blake: (Jumps off head)

Blake: You're wasting your energy. Hit fast and with finesse.

--------------------------------------------------

Jaune: (Sighs)

Jaune: (Dodges, Shoves)

Jaune: (Ducks, Kicks)

Jaune: (Groans, Turns away)

Jaune: (Counters super-move attempt)

Jaune: What are you doing?! Don't just blindly fire off attacks like that! Think before you act!

Jaune: ...Hah. At least you're no quitter. Alright, I can't say no to that kind of enthusiasm. Or, at least, if I did, it looks like you'll just keep coming back and trashing my place until I don't.

Jaune: Come on! One more round!

--------------------------------------------------

Ren: (Quietly watches you train)

Ren: (Closes eyes)

Ren: (Sits, Meditates)

Ren: (Petal falls on hand, Doesn't react)

--------------------------------------------------

Qrow: Right here.

Qrow: Here, have a drink.

Qrow: Here's a toast. To the day you became a student of the one and only Qrow Branwen.

Qrow: ...What's with that look? Relax, it ain't booze! I quit the stuff ages ago. This is an herbal remedy I learned from an old friend of mine. Trust me and take a swig.

Qrow: Haha! You like it? Really wakes you the hell up, huh?

Qrow: Just remember one thing, kid...

Qrow: WE deal the beatings, nobody else!

--------------------------------------------------

Mercury: Huh? The hell is that supposed to be? Some kind of impression of me?

Mercury: ...Doesn't look half bad.

Mercury: Heh heh... Alright, you've got my attention now! NOW TRY AND KEEP IT.

--------------------------------------------------

Ozcar: ...Tell me, have you ever heard of a girl named Salem?

Ozcar: She was an immortal witch who tried to destroy the world. She said it was in vengeance for being abandoned by her gods.

Ozcar: (Disappears)

Ozcar: (Behind you) Truly, she was the most evil of them all.

Ozcar: (Knocks you to the ground) Her obsession with magic made her forget the value of the human spirit, something she'd lost long ago.

Ozcar: (Jams Longest Memory into you) Please, hold still. I haven't quite got the hang of this just yet.

--------------------------------------------------

You block, holding your arms across your body to protect yourself from the woman's might. However, she proves this ineffective by crashing her fist against your guard and easily smashing through it and cracking your chin with her devastating fist. You fly into the air as inhuman strength launches you to the sky. You fall and hit the ground as she turns to walk away.

You try to push yourself to your feet, but your body fails you though your spirit years to continue. You roll to your back, air leaving your lips as they split into a grin.

Salem: Oh? You dare laugh?

Salem: Hm... You look... Just like him...

She walks over to you, glaring down all the while with her menacing red eyes. Towering over you, she then swings her fist down, cracking the earth beneath you. Faster than lighting and harder than thunder, she easily breaks the cave floor, barely missing your head. Your body shakes with fear from the near-death you'd received.

Salem: ...Very well. I shall train you. And then, we shall see if you're still able to laugh.

[bugsysaboy]

Kite Headcanons <3

ALRIGHT THIS ONE IS FOR MY FELLOW KITE STANS!!! all 5 of us!!!!

No content warnings, sfw

-has the worst appetite known to man /hj

-he usually just eats soup

-he can easily be thrown off by the texture of certain foods (certified jello hater!)

-although, honestly, if he's hungry enough he'll eat anything.

-autism be damned, my boy can work a grill campfire.

-anxious as FUCK in restaurants. He's too awkward to order and will just s t a r e for too long unintentionally at the waitstaff.

-also will be awkward about starting his meal and will just hork it down when no one is looking. (Look, he grew up on the streets, eating fast so no one takes his food is just a hold over.)

-REALLY GOOD CANDID PHOTOS BUT DO NOT ASK THIS MAN TO POSE! HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING!

-you know that meme that's the person doing the half a heart with their hand and the other person has a thumbs up? ...yeah.

-ACTUALLY THAT BEING SAID he's really handsome when caught off guard, but when he's actually engaging in conversation with someone he's kinda funny looking? Like he'll suddenly be aware of how he's carrying himself and maintaining eye contact and he will over correct.

-This man has no game!!! This man can neither pull nor flirt! 29 years old and even the idea of holding hands gets him flustered.

-on top of this if he's romantically interested in someone he's really prone to just avoiding them.

-KITE AND CRAZY SLOTS IS JUST MANZAI! KITE IS THE STRAIGHT MAN AND CRAZY SLOTS IS THE FUNNY MAN! KITE SAYING "ah, bad roll" AND GRIPING ABOUT CRAZY SLOTS IS JUST A BIT TO HIM! HE THINKS IT'S HILARIOUS BUT NOBODY SEES THIS.

-dad jokes and puns all day everyday

-also he can actually be pretty chatty, like don't get me wrong when he's really focused he'll probably just shut up but during downtime? Around a campfire? He loves to spin a yarn or talk about his work.

-He also loves to hear about what others are passionate about!

-gets a general feel for people really quickly- he'll open up to people he gets good vibes off of pretty fast, but others he's more iffy on he may keep things cordial. This can, however, lead to snap judgements about people that might not be always correct.

-excellent pickpocket, now that he has a stable income through being a hunter he won't use this ability often...

-okay might do it to prank someone

-...or humble them.

-Met Ging when he was 15 and Ging was 18

-if he sets an alarm he somehow always manages to wake up just before it goes off

-hammock conoisseur 😌

-if he was in the real world he'd be Russian. (This is literally just based off of vibes and some edit an artist made of Kite running to Russian hardbass.)

-thinks it's really funny to say "have you considered..." to someone and when they ask him to elaborate he just says "...just... have you considered."

-loves sunflowers, loves sunflower seeds

-likes to keep a spare scarf handy in case someone needs it

-makes the crazy slots noise when he's really trying to concentrate

-favorite candy is saltwater taffy

-I like to imagine that he got the idea for crazy slots because of a boardwalk carnival in the town he grew up in. The carnies knew that Kite could win any of the games they had, no matter how rigged, it was uncanny.

-...probably used the plushies he won as pillows, maybe with the smaller ones he'd let his dogs play with.

-AND YES, HIS DOGS ALL HAD NAMES. ALEXEI, BORIS, SERGEI, PUSHKIN, FYODOR JUST TO NAME A FEW

-Favorite author is Dovstoevsky

-legitimately does not remember where he got his hat from, it's just kinda always been there, you know?

-he's not super focused on material goods and he doesnt really like receiving gifts (exceptions are made for anything handmade or a really cool rock.)

-...call him pretty and he'll fold

[ithaquasbbg]

hi!! can you write an ithaqua x reader where the reader is the one being comforted? like they had a bad day, or if it's in canon, they had a lot of bad matches. mostly fluff, maybe? i want itha to reassure me that everything is gonna be ok!

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

This sat in my inbox for a while, but hope it is up to what you wanted. :)

Don’t worry- Ithaqua x reader

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

Pairing : Ithaqua x reader

Tw : just a little mention of an injury :)

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

Your entire body hurts, taking large amounts of effort to even take another step towards the cipher. Today had been rough, match after match resulting in losses up until this game You’re currently in- which had just started. It’s upsetting to lose as much as you have- making you feel like nothing but a nuisance for the other people in the manor. Nonetheless, you continue trying to push through this last match of today.

It’s hard to focus on decoding when you can barely keep yourself from passing out or crying at any moment. You receive shock after shock from the machine after messing up multiple times. The fact that this alerts the Hunter is something that completely leaves your mind until you feel your heartbeat picking up.

Instincts take over quickly as you run through the grass towards a window you can vault, though the moment you attempt to vault, your body gives up and collapses onto the ground below with a loud thud. Just like that, tears of frustration and pain fall down your face, looking back towards the hunter that was chasing you. To your surprise, it was Ithaqua.

Despite being unable to see his face, you can see the way he tenses up upon seeing you in pain. Quickly, he drops his weapon and sits down in front of you, pulling you into a gentle embrace. He wasn’t the best at comforting, you knew this from past experiences, but he tries anyways. “(Name), what’s wrong?” He asks, voice quiet and gentle as he tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear.

“I can’t keep doing this..” you whisper, wiping your eyes and looking up at the Hunter in front of you. “All I’ve done is ruin matches.. and I’m so tired.” He hums, lifting his mask up enough to plant a gentle kiss on your forehead. “How about I give you a win then? Then you can go back to the manor and rest.”

“You’d do that?” You ask, aware that your teammates have already finished a large amount of ciphers. “Yes, (Name), I don’t mind a loss if it means you can get rest.” Within a few seconds of him saying that, you hear a sound signaling that he had surrendered and the match was now over.

Slowly, you stand up, wincing in pain when you put weight on your leg that you had hurt during the fall. “Here, let me help you.” Ithaqua’s hands gently lift you into his arms, carrying you back to your room in the manor. “Do you need ice?” He asks, taking a look at your bruised leg the moment he lays you down on the bed.

“No no, Itha, it’s fine. Just lay with me, please?” You ask, watching as the blonde takes off his mask and gives you a gentle smile as he lays down next to you. Cold hands cup your cheeks as he looks at you with a wide smile.

“(Name), everything will be okay, everyone has rough days.” He whispers, kissing your cheek as he pulls you closer to him, resting your head on his chest. “But-“ you start, only to feel a finger pressed to your lips as Ithaqua giggles “No buts, I promise you nobody is mad at you for having a rough day, alright?”

You nod and listen to the sound of Ithaqua’s heartbeat for a few moments before he speaks up again. “And if anybody is mad at you, I’ll speak with them, alright?” You laugh and nod, snuggling closer to Ithaqua. “Alright, I love you.”

And with that, you’re enveloped in the familiar warmth of the blonde and slowly drift off to sleep while listening to his breathing. How lucky you were to have a man like him.

[brookesophelias]

think about how

each five total time i read The Hunger Games Trilogy, the more times I THINK "WE WERE ROBBED" when it comes to Haymitch Abernathy & Gale Hawthorne.

IMAGINE

Gale Hawthorne: the resourceful hunter who thought his 42 slips would give him so much more than... well, nothing. (his family is still wanting, the girl he's crushing on doesn’t see him like that. HE'S A COAL MINER JUST LIKE HIS FATHER TO KEEP HIS MUM ALIVE).

of course, Gale's angry because the Capitol says all he has to is play The Game & he'll be full. But he never gets to play. He has all this anger at his government, for the sickness he sees. so much that it blinds him & all he yearns for is revenge. REVENGE is the only thing that lights him up these days!

he has no empathy for Victors—as he's unaware Haymitch doesn't allow anyone clean or cook for him, doesn't understand Haymitch sleeps with a knife every night for 25 years, & gets through the days drunk because he knows every tribute District 12 lost, the all 49 tributes he fought—when they have all the money & food he ever could dream & don’t do anything with it.

(Gale never knew Peeta's mother beat him for throwing bread to Katniss, doesn't realise Mrs. Undersee's maiden name is Donner).

so when Katniss wants to run into the woods with everyone AND Gale, Gale's (only?) sees "Loverboy," "the Mayor's daughter," as well as the single town Victor who trips on live TV like a drunken idiot.

therefore,when Alma Coin lures Gale into making Rebel weapons, he's enthralled. He is finally doing something useful with his skills & IT'S AGAINST SNOW? sounds awesome!!

it's not his fault President Coin wants to usurp Snow & is using anti-Hunger Games rebellions to do so. it's not his fault Primrose Everdeen is dead.

ok, but there’s Haymitch: resident Quell Victor who begrudgingly lets Hazelle in his Victor’s Village house. Hazelle, with her young children & whose son is pretending to be Katniss' cousin?

i mean (honest) gale/katniss is a major damage to the star-crossed lovers angle

is it because he could young Gale in himself? where Gale is skilled in building & planning & hunting, Haymitch knows methods & truly making something from for nothing

does Haymitch look at Gale's broken body after Thread whipped him & know that the younger man is already more than physically broken without even stepping foot in the Games?

does Haymitch just wish he could drill into Gale Hawthorne's cocky head that being angry at the Capitol is great motivation, just not how he's going about it.

Haymitch would probably give a month's worth of his winnings for life to Gale, just to hug the younger man and tell him: i see you, your effort, your determination to stop suffering?

the thing is: Gale believes he'd be able to survive the arena and still be himself & Haymitch knows that nobody can do that—not Maysilee; not even Peeta.

in all reality, Gale was just a kid that hungered for more than he received in return.

[techwrecker]

Something ANGSTY and FLUFFY with CROSSHAIR (if you’re any good at that, ik some writers struggle in some areas)

For Her

Summary: Crosshair struggles with his PTSD from Tantiss that manifests in his hands.

Genre: angst, hurt comfort, light fluff, SFW

TW: mention of death, mention of character canon death, ptsd symptoms (please let me know if I missed any)

Word Count: 2.6K

Warnings: Minor season 3 spoilers, no plot spoiling

A/N: this is probably more angst than fluff eheh... sorry ^^; I hope you enjoy anyways! If you see any grammatical mistakes, no you do not <3

AO3

Crosshair’s hands didn’t shake when his mind was preoccupied. And right now, he was preoccupied by combat with his brother Echo.

Crosshair sat folded in concentration, elbows resting on his knees, mulling over the next possible Dejarik moves. Echo was sitting across from him, just as engaged as the sniper, though Crosshair couldn’t tell if his yawns were genuine exhaustion or a mediocre attempt to rush his turn. Either way, Crosshair wasn’t going to pass up a chance to win because somebody was trying to end the game quickly.

“C’mon, Cross. If you could manage a move during this rotation, I’d appreciate it.” The former ARC trooper quipped.

“Relax. I’m thinking,” he said in mild annoyance. “Nothing wrong with being careful and taking one’s time.” Crosshair hit a button on the board, causing the holo to shift as his character sauntered over and slayed Echo’s main player, leaving the match at a checkmate. “See? Patience is a virtue.” He said, smug with victory.

“Yeah, one of your only ones, too,” Echo shot back with a smile, pressing the shut-off button on the entertainment table. Crosshair couldn’t help the small smirk that crept onto his face. Echo stood up and extended his good arm out across the dark table for a handshake. “Good game, as usual, Crosshair.”

Crosshair took his brother’s hand, and they shook. As Echo walked away to his bunk, Crosshair sat back down, massaging his hand at the palm. His hands didn’t shake when his mind was thinking about a task at hand, but once it was quiet, it was all he could do to keep them still. He held his hands out in front of him, watching them twitch. He squeezed them into fists in an attempt to calm the shot nerves and shut them out from his mind. Crosshair leaned back into his chair and shoved his still lightly trembling hands deep into his pockets. This was not an attempt to keep them steady but rather if they were out of sight, they were out of mind. And for the most part, it worked.

It was unusual for the ship to be as quiet as it was. Hunter and Wrecker took Omega out to the Pabu market before it shut down for the day so they could grab some dinner for the crew. Since being informally stationed on Pabu for the past month or so, Wrecker had acquired quite an affinity for cooking and Omega was more than eager to help him. Each night, they came home with a new recipe from a local vendor. And before Eriadu, anybody within a 20 foot radius of The Marauder could’ve heard Tech’s tinkering, but ever since…

No. He wouldn’t think about that. He couldn’t. Not without completely breaking down. Crosshair was still a soldier. Whether he was tied to the Republic, the Empire, or to his brothers, he had to be strong. But, ever since Omega saved him from Mount Tantiss, from Hemlock’s unending torture, Crosshair had trouble finding it in himself to return to the steadfast man he once was. Things weren’t as black and white as he had once believed them to be. His brief loyalty to the Empire was misplaced, he knew that now. Maybe had he stayed true to his brothers, Tech would still be alive. He didn’t deserve that fate– nobody did. Not when Crosshair could have prevented it. Had he not chosen to be a “good soldier” for the Empire’s evil. Crosshair couldn’t help but feel like it was all his fault. Omega’s capture. Tech’s death. And the worst part was that they all held him with kiddie gloves, like he was made of glass, destined to shatter at any moment.

Crosshair could feel the headache coming. He stood up and opened the hatch of their home. The wind rushed in, whipping the scent of the salty sea around him. It was humid, but not oppressive. He hoped the fresh air would clear his mind. Making his way down the loading ramp and onto the weathered cobblestone of the island’s square, he could hear the people of Pabu in the lower levels starting to call their children in for dinner. Thankfully, due to pleasant weather, the market was taking place on the beach, far below where the Marauder was parked atop the island. The pinnacle was mostly empty, so Crosshair didn’t have to be greeted by the well-meaning citizens. He kept walking until he reached the lookout point not far from the ship.

The sun had already begun dipping into the vast, dark sea as it painted the sky in all its deserving beauty. Scattered across the strip of beach, Crosshair could see vendors beginning to flip on their candleorbs.

He pulled his rifle from behind his back and placed it into position against his shoulder as he’d done a thousand times before. Making sure the safety was on before pointing it down towards the beach, he peered into the scope, looking for his family. It wasn’t hard to spot the crew, as they were a stark contrast from the linen-clothed locals. That paired with Wrecker’s resonant voice, which could probably carry across the planet, made them easy to find.

Through the viewfinder, he could see Omega reaching into a basket for a fruit he had never seen before, her mouth moving. She turned around to show Hunter the new food and he smiled at her, dropping a few coins of the Pabuian currency into her free hand.

Crosshair didn’t realize he was smiling at the scene. He was glad she was safe now. Maker knows she deserved to be. Especially after everything the child had to endure.

He continued to trail the scope along until he found Wrecker, not far ahead. He was practically towering over all the booths. Crosshair tried to use the scope’s zooming feature to see what he was holding, but at such a distance, it was hard to tell.

The rifle began to tremble slightly in the sniper’s hands. He furrowed his brows in concentration and tried to hold his position as rigid as he could, but it was no use. He ripped his face away from the scope and held the rifle out in front of him in frustration. All he saw in his hands was his mistakes. He unlatched the scope and tore it from the barrel before brashly throwing it off the ledge of the lookout. Crosshair wouldn’t dare to damage his precious weapon, but he couldn’t bear to look at the scope any longer. Once he heard the distant clink of metal against the climbing stairs of Pabu, he laid the weapon on the stone wall, his hand lingering with regret for a second longer.

He turned back toward the Marauder and began to walk away. He didn’t want it in his sight anymore but, as a formally trained sniper, it was hard not to be in his sight. The very thing that he had found security in as a cadet now made him shameful. The very purpose he was created for was stripped from his identity without remorse by the Empire. What’s the use in having a weapon if you can’t protect your family?

Thankfully, as Crosshair approached the loading ramp, he could tell by the light snoring coming from Echo’s bunk, that his brother was napping soundly. He pulled out a toothpick from his chest pocket as he made his way to the cockpit. He didn’t like being alone so much anymore, so he lifted his feet up onto the dash, careful to avoid any switches that might start the engine and tried to follow in Echo’s footsteps for a nap.

He had just about nodded off when Batcher’s quick footsteps disturbed the quiet evening. Crosshair lifted a single lid and squinted out of the viewport and saw Omega riding atop Batcher, the pair headed for The Marauder. Besides clutching Batcher’s fur, she had a cylindrical object in her right hand.

Crosshair took his feet down and sat up to open the loading bay door for Omega.

“Cross!” She called frantically. “Cross where are you?”

“I’m here, Omega.” He said, meeting her at the door. “What’s wrong?”

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, burying her face into his torso. He gingerly laid a hand on her shoulder and knelt down to meet her at eye-level as she pulled away. She looked deeply into his eyes, her own filled with concern.

“I thought something had happened to you!” Her eyes had begun to fill with tears and her face started to flush pink.

“No, I’m alright. Why would you think that?” He asked.

Omega swiped at her tears with the back of her hand before offering up the scope he had thrown away. She opened her hand flat. The black metal was scratched and the glass inside had shattered. “I thought maybe somebody had taken you.”

Crosshair placed his hand over hers, wrapping her fingers back around the scope and lowering it in rejection. “No. I don’t want that.”

“What do you mean?” Omega said with a sniff.

“I can’t do that. Not anymore.” He said shortly. He didn’t want to bring up Tech. He didn’t want to explain his feelings of inadequacy to her. Not when she was the one who had saved him in the first place. It should have been him. He should have been the one to save her. He was pathetic and he knew everybody around him thought that, too.

“I understand, Crosshair.” She started. “You feel like you don’t have a purpose anymore. I used to feel that way, back on Kamino.”

She took his hand and they sat, leaning against the navicomp on the floor together. “I always wondered why I was different from the other clones. I wasn’t trained like everybody else, but nobody would explain my purpose to me.”

“Omega, I-“ Crosshair tried to escape the conversation.

“No, let me finish.” She interrupted, and he shut his mouth.

“All of you had a clear purpose. The Kaminoans designed you that way. But me? There was nothing special about me. I’m not a sharpshooter and I don’t have heightened senses. I’m definitely not as big as Wrecker and nobody is as smart as Tech was.’ 

Crosshair winced at the sound of his fallen brother’s name.

“But then I finally met you all, my brothers! And I realized what my purpose was. It may not be what they created me for on Kamino, but I know it to be true in my heart. My purpose is to protect my brothers. To protect you,” she explained.

Crosshair could feel the sting of his tears as they started to fall down his slender face.

“Omega,” he began softly, “I’m so sorry. For everything."

The tears wouldn't stop. She pulled him in for a hug and he let her. The two sat together as Crosshair silently let the emotions wash over him. And Omega let him. She knew Crosshair had not come to terms with everything he went through on Tantiss or with the Empire. But, she was observant and saw how his hands would tremble if he didn’t keep himself busy. She knew he needed this and she also knew he wouldn’t confide in any of their brothers like this. Even Batcher sensed something was wrong and came over to lay her head in Crosshair’s lap.

After a couple of minutes, Crosshair pulled away and straightened against the ship. He cleared his throat and looked down at Omega. She was smiling sweetly at him. Not with pity, but with understanding. With her signature kindness. Batcher hopped up and tried to lick his face, pulling them out of the moment.

“Batcher, that is truly disturbing,” Crosshair said in disgust as he tried to shove her off. 

Omega laughed and Crosshair smiled.

“When did you get so wise?” He asked the young girl.

“Since I became a big sister!” She joked.

Hunter and Wrecker showed up not long after, arms full with their food supplies for the night. Wrecker had also managed grab a bag of Mantell Mix to split with Omega. If they didn’t have anything to munch on while making dinner, there would be no dinner to speak of.

“So, I guess you’re okay, then,” Hunter said, vaguely gesturing to Crosshair with his hand.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… having a rough go of it, I suppose.” Crosshair answered. It was slightly more information than he would typically give away about his emotional state. Hunter knew well enough not to push him.

“Well good,” Wrecker chimed in. “‘Cuz I’m starving!”

“I’ll wake up Echo so we can get started!” Omega hopped up from the floor and rushed over to his bunk. The rest of the crew headed outside to start the fire. 

The saturated colors of sunset were still stretched across the sky as the sun continued to pass behind the horizon. That was one of Pabu’s specialties. Due to the atmosphere and the reflections off the ocean, the sunsets lasted much longer than it did on any other planet the Bad Batch had ever been to. 

Crosshair walked back out to the lookout once more to retrieve his rifle. He couldn’t leave it. For as much grief as it was giving him, he would always come back to it. He had no other choice. He slung it back over his shoulder and returned to the group to help prep their dinner.

As dinner waned into the evening, the stars crept upon the little family. They all crowded around the fire and told funny stories to Omega about each other from their time serving the Republic. And Echo had plenty from when he was still with the 501st. The little clone intentionally sat next to Crosshair during dinner to give him a prevailing sense of comfort over his anxieties.

“And so I said to Cross,” Hunter said, finishing his story between chuckles, “Cross, that’s a Tooka!” 

The crew burst into laughter at the story. 

“Did you really think it was a battle droid?” Omega asked her seatmate in disbelief.

“Unfortunately, yes...” He trailed off.

“Alright,” Echo began. “The fire is dying and we should probably head in soon. Hunter and I will clean up since Wrecker, Omega, and Cross made dinner.”

“Thanks, Echo!” She beamed at him.

“Yeah, thanks!” Wrecker said as he slapped Echo’s back in gratitude. 

It was probably a little harder than he meant as Echo stumbled forward. He turned his head to give Wrecker a dirty look. The biggest batcher just shrugged sheepishly.

“Come with me, Crosshair. I want to look at the stars over the lookout.” Omega requested.

Crosshair picked up their dishes and handed them to Hunter, nodding in thanks. The pair made their way to the lookout point. 

The stars were in full view, brilliantly shining in every color imaginable. This was something neither of them would ever get used to.

Crosshair held out his hand to Omega so she could climb onto the wall. She smiled up at him and took it gladly. She swept her legs over the side and tilted her head up to the sky, eyes wide in wonder. She kept her eyes on the sky but Crosshair was watching her. 

He hadn’t ever been one to talk much, even before all the events that transpired, but he didn’t think he would ever find enough of or the right kind of words to tell Omega how thankful he was for her.

He lifted a leg over the wall and sidled up to his sister, wrapping his arm around her protectively.

Omega wouldn’t always be a child, and she certainly wouldn’t need her brothers to protect her forever. But, looking into the galaxy here, together, Crosshair resolved his new purpose. He would make the galaxy a safer place. For her.